Anna Stickel (14) was struck and killed by an Amtrak train while crossing the tracks to take a shortcut

A Baltimore County community is in mourning, shaken by the sudden death of a 14-year-old girl. She was walking to school Tuesday along a set of railroad tracks when she was hit and killed by a train.

Ron Matz reports on how a friend narrowly missed getting hit herself.

When a 9 a.m. southbound Amtrak train passed through Middle River Tuesday morning, two Kenwood High School girls were on the tracks. Only Sarah Harden survived.

"We were laughing and joking and didn't hear it. I heard it a split second before she did; I turned and ran, and I looked back and she had passed away," Harden said. "I walked over and I just started screaming her name. I screamed and screamed, and I thought, 'Oh, God, what if she's alive?' Which was a very unlikely possibility, but you know, you've got to try."

She flagged down someone to call 911, but it was too late for 14-year-old Anna Marie Stickel.

"She never hurt anybody. She did not deserve something like this," Stickel's aunt, Anna Hasoup, said.

There's no fence at the spot where Harden said they accessed the tracks. They were walking because they'd missed the school bus. All of the high schoolers know that's the shortcut.

"It's a half an hour shorter to get to Kenwood than walking all the way around the road and such," Harden said.

Parents expect someone to step in.

"Well, common sense tells the parents that at that age, they will cross the railroad tracks. There's been several accidents here and I think they need to put the brick walls up so another child doesn't die," said Donna Yeager, Kenwood parent.

But it is trespassing to go onto the tracks.

"These trains travel at high speeds, some at not so high speeds. Some you can hear, some you can't hear, so it's just safer if you're not walking with the tracks and just staying off that property," said Cpl. Mike Hill, Baltimore County Police spokesperson.

Some Kenwood students say losing a classmate so young sends them the message.

"And I really hope nobody else goes back on it. I mean, I hope this can be a lesson to everybody else," Harden said.

Stickel's brother is a senior at the school. Grief counselors are on hand to help people at the school.

Baltimore County Police are handling the case with Amtrak's help. The investigation Tuesday delayed or canceled several trains along the D.C./New York City corridor.